Soon, a drug to treat premature ejaculation in men

Although there are drugs like Viagra to boost a man’s sex drive, males who peak too soon don’t have any such pill-based solution. But not anymore, for now a new drug has been designed that can treat premature ejaculation.

A major pharmaceutical company, Janssen-Ortho Inc., has filed an application with Health Canada to market the drug, dapoxetine, known by the brand name Priligy, in the country. However, experts have claimed that the drug is not 100 percent successful.

"This is a really common problem," Globeandmail.com quoted Gerald Brock, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, as saying.

Brock, who has been involved with company-sponsored trials of the drug, has said that the condition can cause great emotional distress for men and their partners, and is believed to affect up to one-third of males. He revealed that, basically, these men lack sexual control and reach orgasm in less than two minutes.

For a long time, scientists have suspected that serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain, plays a role in the disorder. And, sometimes patients are treated with a class of antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), which affect serotonin levels.

"The problem with SSRIs is that they are very slow to start working and they stay in your body for a long time," explained Brock.

And in order to treat premature ejaculation, an SSRI must be taken every day. Thus, scientists designed Priligy, which need to be taken about one to three hours before sexual intercourse.

"Quite honestly, it is not 100 per cent successful," said Brock. It doesn''t work for all men and it can cause nausea and diarrhea. "(Still) it''s a quantum leap better than anything we have right now. It typically doubles or triples how long a man can last," he said.